Guardian
by Mynuet
Summary: Kagome comes to take Rin away from Sesshoumaru. Implied IY/Ka, will develop into Se/R once she's old enough.


Guardian  
  
by Sharlene  
  
  
  
"I came for the girl."  
  
The Lord of the Western Lands lounged indolently on his throne, turning flat, passionless eyes towards his brother's woman. "And why do you think I would give Rin to you?"  
  
Kagome stared back, unflinching in the face of the coldness and hostility radiating from the powerful youkai. "Because it would be what's best for her."  
  
Sesshoumaru exhaled, a dismissive and contemptuous sound. "What's best for her is to stay where she is, where I can protect her."  
  
Kagome squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, determined not to let the ice of his tone affect her. "Why? Do you consider her your daughter?"  
  
"No." The denial was clipped, shooting out immediately without conscious thought. He did not know why he had kept the little human girl alive and with him for so long, and still less did he know why he would not hear of her leaving. All he could be certain of was that he did not feel like her father.  
  
Kagome nodded. "You've made it very clear what you think of humans. Can you tell me that will never extend to her?" She took a deep breath and continued. "And what about when it comes time for Rin to marry?"  
  
A look of surprise drifted across Sesshoumaru's features fleetingly, quickly replaced by his normal serene expression. "She's much too young to be considering such things."  
  
"I agree, but in this place and time, it's not that uncommon for girls of her age given in marriage." Kagome paused a moment to let that sink in. "I want to take her to my home, where she would have the benefit of a loving family life, an education and the opportunity to meet many boys from which to eventually choose a husband for herself."  
  
He sat quietly, thinking about her words. Before he had a chance to state that a hanyou's woman had no right to dictate to him, a shriek rose through the air. Sesshoumaru found himself holding a sobbing Rin. "I won't go! I love you, Sesshoumaru-sama, I don't want to marry anyone else, please, please don't let her take me away!"  
  
His expression turned colder as he stood, forcing Rin to slip to the floor at his feet. It galled him to know that the girl who had stormed into his palace was right. He could never marry a human, and it would be better if Rin were removed from his home so that she would realize it as well. "Take her away." The great Lord of the Western Lands walked out of the room without a single glance backwards at the human girl he'd taken care of for years.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Rin's name had not been spoken in the palace Sesshoumaru rarely stirred from for five years. It was not because the servants and retainers had not developed an affection for her sunny smile and sweet ways. Though her visits to the palace had been brief, she had burrowed a place in the heart of servants who remembered Sesshoumaru before his father had remarried. Before he had been rejected in seeking a mother's love from his father's second wife and blamed her entire race for her shortcomings.  
  
No, it was not for a lack of missing her that none mentioned Rin. It was fear of their master's terrifying and glacial anger, which had been displayed when Jakken was flogged within an inch of his life for muttering in his master's hearing that he missed the "stupid human girl".  
  
Sesshoumaru had not thought of her once. Any time his traitorous mind would call up an image of her, would wonder where she was and how she had grown, his will would crush the thought before it fully formed. If a peculiar sort of pain followed, it was nothing that a great youkai lord couldn't ignore. He was alone, as was fitting. Someday he would take a mate appropriate for his status and that, too, would be fitting and proper. No humans would pollute his presence ever again.  
  
A commotion at the door of his throne room interrupted his reflections and he looked to see who dared to disturb him. A glowing pink arrow was pointed at a servant who was gabbling about not disturbing the great lord. The girl wielding the bow sneered at the cowering servant and walked forward, seemingly as unstoppable as the tides. Without taking her glance away from her target, the girl said, "Well, Great Lord? Does your servant need to die before I speak to you?"  
  
Sesshoumaru looked over the girl appraisingly. She was human, fairly young but well into her child bearing years. Her hair was predominantly brown but streaked with a variety of clashing, violent colors that seemed to glow with their falseness, red and blue and green and violet. She was dressed in the same outrageous and immodest manner as his brother's woman had been apt to, and as his eyes took in her curves he contemplated taking a human concubine for the first time in his long life. Her face and scent teased at his senses, wanting to be identified but just alien enough to defy comprehension. Her eyes flashed like fire on the plains as he dismissed the servant with a casual gesture and reclined once more. "Now that you have proven yourself violent and uncouth, what is it you wish?"  
  
Her eyes went flat as she pointed the bow downwards but did not remove the arrow. "I came to request that you honor your father by helping your brother and your nephew now that they need you." Her tone was better suited to a command, and he found that engendered a feeling he hadn't known for a long time; amusement.  
  
"Why should I help that hanyou and his misbegotten brat?" There was no heat in his voice, but then, there never was. Those who knew him very well might have detected the note of curiosity as he heard for the first time that his brother had a child. Presumably he had married that other miko with the incredibly short skirt.  
  
Her hand on the bow tensed and he wondered for a moment if she intended to fire the arrow which was once again glowing pink. Soon, however, her hand relaxed and she put the now-normal arrow into her quiver and slung the bow over her shoulder. "I should have expected that there would be no trace of family loyalty or honor in a cur like you." Before he could react to that offensive statement, she continued. "Very well. If you come with me to heal the boy, Inuyasha will give you Tetsusaiga."  
  
He had not thought she could shock him, but she had. If his brother was willing to part with his inheritance, something was gravely wrong with the child. It was his obligation as the boy's uncle and overlord to help, just as it had been his duty to train Inuyasha to be a capable fighter. However, nothing said he had to make it easy on this insolent girl. "And if I do not want it? Why then would an honorless cur, as you say I am, wish to bother?"  
  
Her poise faltered for a moment until she crossed her arms in front of her as if to hold her anger and sorrow close. She wasn't sure she trusted the gleam in his eye, but she pressed on. "You fought for the sword for years. I can think of nothing else you desire as much as your father's fang."  
  
"And if I were to say that instead it was my desire to have you as a concubine?" A corner of his mouth crept up as her jaw slackened with shock. Her cheeks turned red and she flashed him a killing look before reloading her bow.  
  
"This is not a joking matter." She pulled back the string, a haze of anger coloring her vision. Before she could fire, he seemed to disappear, only to reappear at her side. He grabbed her wrists and held them above her head, pinning her to the wall with his hand and his body.  
  
"Just as well, for I am not joking." He pressed against her but did no more, waiting for her reaction. Would she break down into tears at being overpowered, or fight and try to kill him? Either would be entertaining.  
  
In the end, she did neither. With a calm face that radiated quiet dignity, she said simply, "If allowing you to use my body will save my godson's life, I will allow it."  
  
Disgusted, although he didn't know why, he pushed away from her and walked towards the gates. Her heart sunk and she thought she might have failed, but he stopped and looked at her coldly. "If you wish to save this child, showing me where he is would serve better than leaning against that wall."  
  
"Aye, aye, sir." The mocking smile had returned to her face and he wondered at the vague sense of familiarity as they walked. The girl was surprisingly fast for a human, and he wondered again what it was about her that fascinated him, that continually dress his eyes to examine her as if by constant scrutiny he would find what eluded him.  
  
The trip went quickly, and soon they found themselves at the village near where his brother had been sealed for so long. An old woman in traditional miko's robes stood by the road entering the village, and Sesshoumaru felt a moment's relief that she had not also adopted the tiny skirts the other mikos wore. She called out to his companion and he stopped, finally knowing what was so familiar about this strange girl. "Rin..." 


End file.
